


Mini-mart

by water_lotus



Category: Haikyuu!!, hq!! - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-08-22 14:22:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8288834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/water_lotus/pseuds/water_lotus
Summary: Every Saturday she worked from eleven in the afternoon to half past four in the evening with a lunch break, which she spent on a bench outside playing games on her phone. In the summer, she worked more days; however, with less hours.How does Terushima Yūji know all of this?
Easy; he’s been watching her the entire summer break.





	

Every Saturday she worked from eleven in the afternoon to half past four in the evening with a lunch break, which she spent on a bench outside playing games on her phone. In the summer, she worked more days; however, with less hours. On Monday mornings, she dragged herself to the mini-mart at nine o’clock until two came rolling by. Other days during the week were spread out more unevenly, usually in shifts of five hours. Most days for lunch, she brought what looked like leftovers or a small snack, although it was always accompanied by a green water bottle.

How does Terushima Yūji know all of this?

Easy; he’s been watching her the entire summer break.

To be honest, he had never taken special notice to her until that summer and especially the school year preceding then when he was still a first-year at Johzenji High School in Miyagi. Up until that summer, Moriai Anzu was inexistent to him. It didn’t help, otherwise, that she was in a different class than him (more specifically, 2nd year class 4; he came to realize this soon after coming back from summer break). The summer days he’d spent passing by the curb-side mini-mart and peering inside were filled with Moriai Anzu. Whether he was on his way to volleyball practice, out for a run, coming back from practice, running errands, or even stopping in just for the sake of it, Terushima always made an effort to stop by the convenience store if it meant catching a glimpse of Anzu’s golden gaze. The summer air seemed more exciting to Terushima Yūji with a new prey in his sight.

•••

Rumors spread fast across the campus of Johzenji High. Some were even considered tales, like superficial legends that continued on the grounds for years. A rumor of this genre was what finally brought Terushima’s attention towards Moriai Anzu more than ever. At lunch when girls crowded around each other’s desks to gossip or during class, disturbing his naps and even throughout the campus corridors and hallways Terushima Yūji could not escape whatever rumor leaked of the Moriai siblings.

“Her brother graduated just two years ago- I mean- he barely graduated…!” A brunette whispers hastily back and forth with other second year girls that circle around a single desk in the classroom, eyes wide as they listen intently to the exaggerated tales of the famed Moriai brothers. “Both of them went here at different times. My older sister says she was in the same class as the younger one, Keijū. Apparently they both were troublemakers; some said they were a part of some gang, but she told me it wasn’t uncommon for them to get into fights with other boys.” Some legends, Yūji grumbles to himself in disbelief as he rests his head back down to catch some shut-eye.

“What about the sister, though? Anzu, I think?”

“Yeah, yeah! Everyone says she’s pretty quiet, but everyone’s afraid to touch her!” It’s a pretty name for someone that sounds so hated, Terushima yawns audibly as he pretends to tell himself that he isn’t eavesdropping- they’re just talking so loud it’s hard to ignore them.

 

“You remember Chigusa from middle school? Last year she tried befriending her, but it was pointless, she said. The only person she hangs out with is that girl from the tennis club; Rei, right?” The blonde swirls the straw of her milk carton in a nervous manner, flicking back her ponytail with the ease of words spilling from her lips. More and more stories follow, from violent fights in the past years by the Moriai brothers or the superstitious gossip following Anzu, wondering if she was the same, or worse. The disastrous conversation even led some girls to believe she was in a gang, herself…!

“She does act a whole lot like a yankee, like that Yuka chick from last year! She moved, though, so maybe she just took her place?” Moriai Anzu is a name that sits on Terushima Yūji’s lips the rest of the day, mulling over the pointless gossiping he had witnessed during lunch. None of it matches up to the girl he encountered during summer at the mini-mart on the street corner.

•••

The heat of the summer sun radiates even through the protective glass windows and sliding doors of the convenience market, spilling golden waves through the crevices of the store front. A fan blows rhythmically in a steady tempo, turning from one direction the other, ensuring the entire space is filled with a cool blast of air for relief of the sun’s torture. The ringing above his head is only more white noise that submerges the subconscious of Terushima Yūji’s head while the focus of his eyes lays directly on his prey that sits behind the counter. Sweat dribbles from his forehead, crashing to his jaw until it disappears into the underside alcove of his neck. The front of his tee shirt is stained in sweat and his breathing is still somewhat labored from racing back all the way from the gym. His feet unknowingly take him to the back of the mini-mart, where a display of fridge cases keep drinks chilled, from water to carbonated drinks, beer, or milk, among other beverages. From the second door, Yūji slides the case open to grapple for the first bottle of watermelon water before shutting the door and pressing the cool plastic to his cheek, where the heat dissipates for only a moment. Returning to the front of the store, he casually eyes the snacks and wrapped food items lining the shelves, coming close to deciding whether or not he should reach for a small bag of Calbee shrimp chips. Ignoring this last-minute lusting for shrimp puffs, Yūji continues to the front register where he is met by the honey irises of Moriai Anzu, seeping with a similar amount of hidden sweetness as she turns to notice the teen.

“Back again?” she sighs, although she already knows the answer. While she is ringing up his bottle, he has already prepared the amount of coins for the water and set them on the counter for her while a titter escapes his lips, downing half the bottle’s contents. In the back of his mind, Terushima knows that he recognizes the girl from somewhere other than the mini-mart. He _knows_ her. He can’t, for the  love of God, figure out where it is he knows her from.

Besides that, they’ve never moved past the recognition of being strangers, never fully introduced themselves, even if Anzu’s nametag is a dead giveaway…! When Yūji has finished nearly half the bottle of water in one chug, he glances back to face her, wiping his chin from excess water that dribbles from the corner of his lips. Already she has eased her way back onto the stool next to the front counter, transfixing her eyes to the pages of some monthly manga subscription, most likely from the store itself. His lips part in the slightest, almost in a memorized manner as if he has planned all of this out. But he cannot find any words in his throat and clicks his tongue at the roof of his mouth as he turns to leave. What is there to say to her? Wouldn’t it be awkward to ask if they have met before, somewhere else- what if he sounds more like some weird stalker that is following her around in an obsessive style-

“Oh- I hope your practice went well today, too.”

Maybe he’ll try again tomorrow. Maybe, tomorrow, he’ll buy those Calbee chips, too. Terushima tells himself this over and over throughout the remainder of the day, but it never happens. He doesn’t walk in with a predator swagger in his gait, nor does he spark up a conversation with her when he brings the shrimp chips to the counter. Shrimp chips and talking to Moriai Anzu will have to wait for another time.

•••

Five more minutes until four in the evening.

Five more minutes until freedom.

However, it also meant five more minutes of idly staring into the abyss of the half-empty water bottle between Moriai Anzu’s palms. A futile sigh is her response to the boredom that has held Anzu in its clutches since the beginning of her shift that day with nothing to acquiesce such boredom but the dull thrum of the fan billowing the corn market. She has already read the latest volume of Jump and checked out all other weekly or monthly issues of popular manga available to her in the mini-mart. She had even taken the liberty of cleaning the checkout stand, wiping down any available surfaces and re-organizing the candy section of the store due to it’s messy state of being (no doubt it’s the remnants of the young children and adolescent junior high boys that come in for fun!).

Anzu used the majority of her break at noon to sanitize the staff lounge room, throwing out leftover lunches and dinners that were obviously no longer edible--nor appetizing in the least! She has spent her day wishing for something to do and now is ready to leave for home where she can escape to her bed or at least recline in the comfort of her couch for a movie. And even in her musings of her day spent in that vague apathy, she realizes all too soon that even her complaints have taken not even a minute of the five left in her shift! With a pained sigh, she lets the dawning recognition allow her head to fall forward until it meets the cool countertop (now ridden of 99.9% of the bacteria previous spawning its way across the surface thanks to her..!). For some last few minutes Anzu lets everything slip away. Turning to press her cheek into the counter, she allows the ringing in her ears to stop and the drone of the television news broadcast from the far left corner filter through her head aimlessly. The fan bustles just as it has since early that morning with the intent, still, to cause a breeze in the heat of the summer humidity. The buzz stumbles above her head in a hazy cloud, her brain never recognizing or decoding the sounds it hears. Instead, it simply listens. Her eyes watch the streaks of sunlight on the window panels.

Or are those just streaks of dirt stuck to the glass, she almost wonders. But now she watches. The star-spelled constellations of warm sun reflect onto the doorways and open areas of the store-front not covered in discount and promotional posters. The decadent holes in the rays are the shadows of the trees peeking from across the street, standing in a neat line that stands between Anzu and the vision of the two-story apartment complexes set up like perfect doll houses in unison.

Maybe it’s good that they’re hidden. They were always far too similar for Moriai Anzu’s perceptive taste.

But for the sunsets that she’s worked through, it’s a perfect sight. With the rolling breezes in Spring to work through the thickets and branches and leaves of the miniature maple trees, the waves of orange and pinks are perfectly aligned just for Anzu during her evening shift. The cool Winters bring haunting blues and purples ringing through naked branches of fallen leaves. Fall seems to combine all three of these elements into one, where each day it is simply a surprise. But sometimes, like today, all Moriai Anzu wants is the spell-binding breeze of golden rays.

“-Not again. Come on, Mori. Don’t go daydreaming on me again! Ah, there she is! Welcome back to reality.” The pouted smile and tanned irises staring back at Anzu tear a groan from her lips as she turns from the sight of the older male leaning across the register to her.

“Oh, come on, Anzu! Don’t tell me you’re not happy to see your favorite brother..!” Moriai Keijū has the enthusiasm of the family, she mocks somewhere in her mind. Sitting up straight, she reminds herself lightly that she holds the wits in her hand.

“Kei, who said you ever my favorite?” Or, most of them, at least.

 

“Ouch! That hurts, Anzu, really,” Keijū holds a look of pain as he grapples dramatically for where his heart should be, but his mocked smile soon after is not at all convincing. “Come on,” he chides with all seriousness, “you’re off now aren’t you?” Yes, yes she most certainly is.

For once, she wants to thank Keijū. “I’m going out tonight--crash courses and practice ‘til ten, I’m afraid. I already told mom. I’ll be back tomorrow, but until then,” he nudges to the can of coffee from the refrigerator and the mixed salad from the cold case sitting beside it. Taking the bill and change offered over the counter, Anzu enters it into the cash register that spills open. Cracking open the can and stashing the salad kit away for later, Keijū sips quietly before leaning over to ruffle the violet strands of Anzu’s hair. Puckering her lips in distaste and clicking her tongue, Anzu strikes him with a glare before practically shooing him out of the store.

“You’re so annoying,” she scoffs as he waves one last time to her with the cheekiest grin he can manage.

“Love you, too sis’!”

 

 

It’s a wonder that those remaining four minutes were wasted away so easily by the shenanigans of her brother, Anzu thinks as she crosses the street from the convenience store to begin her climb up the hill towards her neighborhood. With her elder brother’s lingering excuse of cram school, it jolts a reminder in Anzu that her own school bids her to return in less than a few days! Spring break has gone so quickly; she barely noticed at all!

“Not to mention I did nothing fun at all…” She mumbles this to herself in disappointment, more in herself than anything. Why, oh why, had she agreed to take those extra shifts at the store, rather than accepting to go out with friends to the amusement park like they talked about? With a sigh, she realizes that she’s wasted away her break just as she has her day, filled only with boredom! Not one exciting thing has happened to her and it begins to unwind itself as a form of anger within her, frowning to herself for her lack of motivation. She berates herself for all the things she did not do.

“Hi, mom.” Shuffling in the kitchen is heard with the drowning of the television’s broadcast playing on through the walls, before said woman with glittering eyes appears just to grin at Anzu as she removes her shoes.

“Ah, honey, you’re back from work. How was it?”

She asks this every time, although she knows the answer. “Slow. Boring.”

“I’m sorry, honey,” she continues on while eyeing the local news broadcast with little interest to the rice maker beeping and flashing a button of red to alert her it’s finished steaming. “You know how it is, though. Work is work.” Anzu nods with little sympathy while scooping a ball of sticky rice into her bowl and picking out pieces of simmered chicken breast to have alongside her egg. “Hey,” her mother piques with sudden interest, though her eyes are never removed from the small television, “Did you know your school’s volleyball team is competing next weekend. Apparently they’ll start playing against some good teams! You should go support them! You know how much Tatsu enjoyed watching them-”

“I’m not really interested.” It’s quick to silence the room, even with the television quieting as it reverts to commericals.

“Okay, but maybe you’d like it, too. You used to love sports when you were younger!” She still does, honest, but none of it attracts her any longer. The eyes watching her with strange disgust or utter fascination, the whispering tongues selling rumors or gossiping. All of it bores her. The mediocre people watching bore her. Things like that shouldn’t get to her. She knows it, but doesn’t listen well.

Somehow, through all of it, Moriai Anzu is the most mediocre person she can think of. And yet she wants so much more than just that. _She wants more_.

Excusing herself to her bedroom after dishing herself, Anzu realizes something. That boy that comes to the mini-mart--what’s his name--plays on the school volleyball team. She’s never actually met him, but she’s seen his yellow uniform and duffel bag, watched him adjust his knee brace after chugging a bottle of water or stuff his team jersey in his bag before scrambling to find the right amount of coins to pay her. He caught her attention. With his two-toned hair to match his uniform and ear piercings as well as an extra on his tongue, it was like nostalgia running by her. Tatsuya had some piercings as well, although she had grown up always thinking they looked good on him. Fleeting thoughts of her eldest brother wander out of her brain when she shakes them away, marching up the stairs to her room with her dinner still in hand. She powers on her laptop and tentatively argues whether she wants to watch the next episode in her drama or waste her time watching pointless videos on Youtube that reach her interest. Instead, she surprises herself with a text of her school’s name within the search engine.

“...the second year student leading his team into the next district competition next weekend, said to be _‘a respectable captain whose style of playing is to go all out’_.[1]”

And he’s there again. Piercings, hair and all. Somehow the shock isn’t there. It doesn’t stun her to see the text portrayed in the recent news article that pops up at the top of her search. Somehow, he looked like the type to lead. Like the leader of a pack. The kind of fiery gaze that’s incomprehensible to those who underestimate him. Before she knows it, exited out of the browser completely and left her laptop to sleep mode. Somehow, all the information doesn’t surprise her nor elicit excitement, but drives her to pull away and question why she cared in the first place. Until she can figure out why, she changes from her work clothes before settling with a gaming app on her phone while she eats.

**Author's Note:**

>  **[1]** : This is a line actually taken directly from the Haikyuu wiki page on Teru's character page, so please refer to that as their property and not my own.
> 
> However, please respect that these are my own characters (outside of Teru, of course) and do not use them in any way as your own.


End file.
